Last week, we got the (series? season?) finale of She-Hulk, and also we're halfway through the first season of Andor. I have a few thoughts.
She-Hulk: [minor spoilers ahead]
First off, I was really happy that they tried to do something different with this show. Not only was it a half-hourish legal comedy that just happened to involve powered individuals, it broke away from the mold that not only Marvel movies, but the other Marvel Disney+ shows have given us so far. And that's saying something, since WandaVision, Falcon & Winter Soldier, Loki, and Hawkeye are all really different shows. She-Hulk is a completely different beast, and yet it still feels like part of the greater whole.
Was the CGI great? No. Some episodes were worse than others. But was it good enough? I think so. It's a legal comedy, not a big summer blockbuster movie. Could Disney/Marvel have done better if they'd thrown more money into it? Apparently so. The CGI firms they contract with are apparently overworked and underpaid. But for what the show was, it didn't need top of the line CGI. It's a show about learning to live both as a productive member of society and a superhero, and also jokes.
Not every joke landed, but I found things to laugh at in every episode. I'd say the Madisynn/Wong episode was the funniest. And it was fun seeing characters I remember from the comics (Manbull! The Wrecking Crew! Titania!), and characters I wasn't familiar with as well. And when they needed to do action, they did it well. The Daredevil episode in particular had some fun fight choreography in it.
And the fourth wall breaks? Used really well. They provide exposition. They provide laughs. They help direct the series away from the Marvel Studios formula. Especially in the finale. It starts out giving you what you'd expect from a Marvel finale, then...everything changes. In a really silly but good way, that is true to the original comics.
Andor: [more minor spoilers]
Star Wars always has been media aimed at kids (of all ages). It's got that Campbellian Hero's Journey, stark black and white morality, and plenty of swashbuckling derring do. Well, the best Star Wars does, anyway. And even when it's not at top form, it's always been aimed at a young/family audience.
But then there was Rogue One. The prequel that was just a little bit more rough around the edges. It was still a B&W morality play at heart, but it was a little more grown up in certain ways. And Andor is a prequel to this prequel.
Andor is not a show for kids. My 8 year old is continually frustrated and bored with it whenever we watch it. It's about complex characters, and complex situations. It takes a more serious look at what it would be like to live in an authoritarian space empire. It's not about derring-do or simple morality. It's finally Star Wars for grown ups.
We're only halfway through the season, but we've already had a lot of decent drama out of the series. Andor's struggle to fit in while not wanting to fit in. Luthen and Mon Mothma's struggles to build a rebellion while living under constant state surveillance, and in Mothma's case also while living with a fascist sympathizer husband. Karn struggles with ambition and failure, and high hopes his family places on him that he fears he won't be able to achieve. The ISB agent (forgot the name) who knows something's up but whose superiors/coworkers refuse to help or allow her to succeed. It isn't always perfectly scripted, but they all seem like real people with real issues.
The down side of the show is that the endings of the first couple of episodes are anticlimaxes. Anti-cliffhangers. If they hadn't released the first three all at once, for people to binge until they get a satisfying conclusion, I bet a lot of people would have not followed the show.
In Other Viewing:
My younger son and I continue to make our way slowly through both Futurama and Stranger Things. We're somewhere in the middle of season 4 of Futurama, and just watched the first episode of Stranger Things season 3 last weekend.
And my older son is suddenly interested in military history again, after watching Black Hawk Down, so we've been watching Tour of Duty the past couple of evenings. He's really getting into it, and it was one of my favorite shows back in the day. We have some good discussions about the war, and the politics behind it, when we watch.
I've also been occasionally watching Star Trek, original series and Next Gen, when I've got a free hour. It's been going on for a couple of years now. I'm somewhere in the 2nd season of TOS, and 3rd season of TNG. Seems like I'm watching all sorts of shows these days, but the Star Trek really gets strung out. I go in spurts where I'll watch two to four episodes fairly close together, then go weeks without watching any at all.
I was very excited about She-Hulk for a number of reasons (I'm a fan from waaay back, in her "Savage She-Hulk" days); the show is different from what I expected, but it has not disappointed in the slightest. And the return of MY favorite lawyer superhero was a brilliant bit of writing.
ReplyDelete[now my wife is interested in watching the Netflix DD series...which I love but she was never interested in. That one's still not for kids, unfortunately]
Andor is probably my favorite thing streaming right now, and both my kids enjoy it (even my eight year old). These series have simply gotten better and better in my opinion (Mando - Kenobi - Andor) each one pushing at the expectations of "what's a Star Wars film." But Andor...with its complete lack of Jedi mysticism...is more like a straight SciFy series, in the vein of Firefly or the revised Battlestar Galactica. I'm enjoying the heck out of it.
*sigh* TV.
; )
My 8 year old *wants* to like Andor, but he keeps getting frustrated by the slow, talky nature of the show. He wants speeder bike chases and shootouts and stuff, like in The Mandalorian. My 14 year old is really loving it. He's also a big DD fan, and almost didn't watch the She-Hulk finale because he thought DD was only gonna be in the one episode. :D
DeleteYou forgot about The Book of Boba Fett, though. It was a step backwards for Star Wars TV (there were parts of it I loved, parts that were really annoying). Other than that, yeah, TV format Star Wars seems to be the way to go from now on.
I consider BoBF more a spin-off of Mando than its own thing.
DeleteJust talked with MY 8 year old about Andor, She reiterated that she “loves” it though she does say there’s a lot of talking. She also says a lot of it is “nerve wracking” (by which she means it makes her anxious. But she does like it.
I think that nerve wracking may be what my 8yo doesn't like. Two weeks ago, he was watching it with us, and kept slapping/hitting his legs with his hands and fidgeting. I think the tension with only infrequent relief and lack of humor makes it not so fun for him.
DeleteI hear you with the guest characters on She-Hulk. I was stoked to see El Aguilar who I've liked ever since reading one of his stories in a Marvel Presents I bought at the gas station as a kid. The non-powered supporting cast was really good too.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, yes. El Aguilar, the Wrecking Crew, etc....I love playing the "name that minor Marvel character" game that She-Hulk allows.
DeleteAnd, yeah, the whole cast is pretty good.